More than a Chosen One or a Big Three

MIAMI — The box score offered no delineation about a Big Three or a Chosen One.

The shots were evenly distributed, as were the points, five players in double figures, two more with nine.

So now the victories in this series are evenly distributed, as well.

The NBA Finals are tied 1-1 heading to San Antonio for the next three.

Heat 103, Spurs 84.

Yet after this Sunday night performance at AmericanAirlines Arena, it could be argued that the Heat lead 1-1.

In the wake of a Game 1 nail-biter, the Heat produced a Game 2 blowout.

After Thursday's series opener, the question was how the Heat would solve Spurs guard Tony Parker.

Now San Antonio takes flight with a wide range of concerns. Because it's not as simple as stopping LeBron James, which the Spurs did rather effectively for stretches Sunday, on what turned into his 7-of-17, 17-point night.

"That's when they're at their best," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "That's when every team is at their best -- when the perimeter is making shots, when the bench is playing well, when you have a lot of contributors."

There is a reason there still haven't been consecutive losses for the Heat since early January, why there haven't been consecutive home losses since the 2011 NBA Finals, the only playoff series LeBron, Wade and Bosh have lost as teammates.

For weeks now, we've waited for the support system to make it easier on LeBron, to ease the pain in Wade's knee, to help bolster Bosh's confidence.

Then came this:

When Chalmers was doing his Danny Green imitation, which, in Sunday's case, was a very good and very important thing, the duo, shockingly, their teams' leading scorers.

When Miller turned into NBA Finals Mike Miller, sort of the Cadbury Easter Egg of June, available only for a limited period.

When Allen answered all those questions from the earlier rounds of, "Why Ray Allen?"

When Chris Andersen delivered a chorus of Birdman! Birdman!! Birdman!!!

Oh, Bosh got more assertive with his double-double, Wade hit a few of his trademark floaters, but the Spurs are good, very good, at taking away your first option, even your second, or third. They practically made LeBron disappear in Sunday's first half.

And still, the Heat kept coming, undeterred by Green's volley of 3-pointers, part of a can't-miss start for the Spurs from beyond the arc.

"It's such a competitive series, one of the things we talked about is contributing in whatever way you can," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. "This series probably is defined by all the little things.

"Mario was able to make some plays. Ray and Mike both found open gaps for the shooting. Dwyane and C.B. were able to make plays in the first half."

Eventually, LeBron came around to close with those 17 points, as well as eight rebounds and seven assists. His not-so-good, very-awful night turned out to be not half-bad nor all that awful.

Because this time his teammates were there to offer support, support until it was safe to mix in the likes of Joel Anthony, Rashard Lewis and James Jones with 4:58 to play and a 25-point lead.

After Game 1, the focus was on how to stop Parker.

Sunday, that was simple math, with no opportunity this time for a game-winner, instead a mere 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting from the Spurs point guard, with five turnovers mixed in.

After Game 2, the Spurs are faced with higher math.

Because it's not as simple as taking away triple-double LeBron, the Heat player who practically had to do it all in Game 1.

No, this is something more complex.

"The other players, they are playing great, too," Parker said of those not named LeBron. "So we can't have both."

We now have a series, and almost assuredly at least one more game at AmericanAirlines Arena to follow, with it highly unlikely either of these teams takes all three of the three that are about to follow at the AT&T Center.

But this night was about more than offering hope for additional bedlam at AmericanAirlines Arena this season.

This was about the chosen few, actually a chosen many, instead of the Chosen One of even a mere Big Three.